7 Steps to Promote Your House Call Practice through the Media

Media

Date: 10|14|2022

One way to drive your home-based primary care practice’s growth is to promote it through the media. But for house call practices that don’t have a dedicated marketing or public relations person or team, this can be a challenge.

“One of the things that tends to get bumped down on a practice’s ‘To Do’ list is promoting themselves through marketing and with the media,” said James Warda, Vice President of External Affairs and Business Development at the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI). “They’re obviously focused on important things like providing patient care and remaining sustainable. That’s why we emphasize that there can be great ROI in these activities.”

To illustrate the power of doing so, he references the recent Chicago Sun-Times article about two of the Champions in HCCI’s Illinois House Call Project.

Warda, who oversees marketing and media relations for HCCI and also has written for the Chicago Tribune and Pioneer Press, will tackle this subject in his presentation, Driving Practice Growth through Marketing and Media Relations, at the American Academy of Home Care Medicine’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Orlando on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 9:10am ET, and also at a complimentary HCCIntelligence™ webinar on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 4pm CT.

Below, Warda shares seven steps for “pitching” your practice to reporters:

  1. Build a media list. Compile the names and contact information for reporters and editors, along with writers ─ at relevant trade publications, and local and national consumer publications ─ who cover healthcare or related stories.
  2. Determine your practice’s news and key messages.
  3. Draft and send your pitch email with this messaging to start a conversation with the reporter, editor, or writer.
  4. If you don’t hear back within a week or so, call to follow up. But be mindful that they often have a lot “on their plates.”
  5. Work with the reporter/editor/writer on any needed information, sources, and photos. Also remember to always ask what their deadline is!
  6. Select and prepare your practice’s spokesperson to deliver a compelling message and concrete “call to action.”
  7. Once the article is published, share it with all your networks and partners. Everywhere and everyone!